Rich Harden looks like a complete stud right now. 2 starts without giving up a run, and his third start is in progress and is about to throw 7 innings of shutout ball...Has a great K rate to add on to that.

I was following his start today on CBS and it had him throwing 94-97 mph HEAT, then he'll follow it up with a 67 mph curve, or a 66 mph splitter, or a changeup in the 80s...I'm not sure if CBS was right or not, cuz I havent really seen him pitch, but that's complete filth.

I agree. Harden is a stud and will be as good as, if not better, than Hudson this year. I do think that Beane should have simply traded Mulder and not Hudson. Or he could have traded Zito instead of Hudson.

That would have given him a rotation of:
Hudson
Harden
Haren (for Mulder)
Blanton
Zito (or, if traded Saarlos)

That is an incredible rotation, but I guess hindsight is 20/20. Still, Beane did well to keep Harden and deal the proven guys.

slomo007 wrote:I agree. Harden is a stud and will be as good as, if not better, than Hudson this year. I do think that Beane should have simply traded Mulder and not Hudson. Or he could have traded Zito instead of Hudson.

That would have given him a rotation of:HudsonHarden Haren (for Mulder)BlantonZito (or, if traded Saarlos)

That is an incredible rotation, but I guess hindsight is 20/20. Still, Beane did well to keep Harden and deal the proven guys.

I'm sure he couldn't have gotten anywhere near that value if he had traded Zito.

[size=10]"Men are apt to mistake the strength of their feeling for the strength of their argument." [/size]

slomo007 wrote:I agree. Harden is a stud and will be as good as, if not better, than Hudson this year. I do think that Beane should have simply traded Mulder and not Hudson. Or he could have traded Zito instead of Hudson.

That would have given him a rotation of:HudsonHarden Haren (for Mulder)BlantonZito (or, if traded Saarlos)

That is an incredible rotation, but I guess hindsight is 20/20. Still, Beane did well to keep Harden and deal the proven guys.

I'm sure he couldn't have gotten anywhere near that value if he had traded Zito.

What do you mean? He still could have gotten Haren for Mulder. I'm saying that he could have held on to Zito (and Hudson) and just traded Mulder for Haren and Calero (like he did).

Hudson is making $7M this year. They didn't trade him to improve their rotation, they traded him to dump salary. They now have Meyer locked up for along time for cheap as well. Not to mention Juan Cruz and Charles Thomas. Although Cruz hasn't been so good this year.

LBJackal wrote:Hudson is making $7M this year. They didn't trade him to improve their rotation, they traded him to dump salary. They now have Meyer locked up for along time for cheap as well. Not to mention Juan Cruz and Charles Thomas. Although Cruz hasn't been so good this year.

Yeah, you're right. It was more of a pipedream than anything...but I realize Beane had monetary concerns in mind too. Too bad he couldn't screw someone with Zito. Maybe he was hoping for a hot-start so he could trade before the deadline.

Harden is looking great. I've been watching the game, and he totally dominated my M's. I'd be more bummed if I didn't own Harden in my main league. Now if he can just keep that blister from coming back ...

echrisl wrote:Harden is looking great. I've been watching the game, and he totally dominated my M's. I'd be more bummed if I didn't own Harden in my main league. Now if he can just keep that blister from coming back ...

Hey! There will be no mention of the b-word around Harden owners, particularly Harden owners who, like me, kept him over Beckett primarily because of Beckett's blister history.
Still, I'm liking the fact that he's not walking many at all. It's early, but this could be a huge season.